1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bird houses and feeders. More specifically, the invention relates to an assembly which may be used to convert a plastic milk jug, a two liter soda bottle, or a similar container into a bird house, feeder, or bath.
2. Description of the Related Art
Great interest exists in the preservation of bird life and in the feeding and housing of birds near homes, where they can conveniently be observed. Many bird houses and feeders and kits for constructing them have been disclosed in the prior art. These include kits for converting previously used containers into bird houses and or feeders and easily constructed bird house and or feeder assemblies. However, none of the prior art discloses a kit for converting a plastic milk jug or a similar container into a bird house, feeder,or bath that includes easily attachable mounting brackets and a roof structure which is placed around the container spout and secured thereto by screwing the container cap onto the spout over the roof structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,108,570, issued Feb. 19, 1963 to Maurice Kerkhove, shows a colony bird house which is constructed by clamping empty coffee cans between a roof structure and floor board members. The bird house of Kerkhove does not utilize a plastic milk jug or a similar container, the roof structure attachment means, or the easily attachable mounting brackets of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,198,172 (Crane, Jr.) and 5,372,094 (Zens) show respectively a bird house and a bird feeder constructed from an empty milk container. However, the bird house and bird feeder described in these patents are constructed from paperboard milk containers rather than a plastic milk jug or a similar container like the present invention and they lack the easily attachable mounting brackets of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,205,858 (Chadek), 3,244,148 (Long), and 4,242,983 (Moore) show bird houses made from empty containers. None of these mentioned patents show a bird house utilizing an attachable roof structure or mounting bracket.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,115,865 (Parkes et al.) and 3,441,002 (Lawalin et al.) show bird feeders constructed from bird seed containers. The bird feeders described in these patents lack the easily attachable mounting bracket and the attachable roof structure of the present invention.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 120,738, issued Jun. 29, 1939 to Andrew C. Larsen, discloses a bird house with a novel decorative appearance. The appearance of the Larsen bird house is quite different from the appearance of the bird house of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 388,385 issued Aug. 21, 1888 to Charles I. Wooster, shows a bird house with variably sized circles scored into a wall of the bird house which allow an appropriately sized door to be cut therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,087,460 and Canadian document number 949,406 (France) show bird house assemblies which allow the interior of the bird house to be easily accessed. Neither of these mentioned bird house assemblies utilize a plastic milk jug or an easily attachable roof structure.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a bird house or feeder assembly solving the aforementioned problems is desired.